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Hello everyone, and happy Sunday! I'm feeling quite a bit better now that my body finally evacuated what was bothering it. I'd kind of forgotten about the Milk of Magnesia I'd purchased, and yesterday it came to my rescue. Those protein shakes (30g) are no joke, especially if you're taking any medication that slows your digestion further. Yesterday afternoon, even after getting past the constipation, my body just wasn't feeling like much intake, either liquids or 'food'. I found myself getting full after only an ounce of the chicken noodle soup broth and a few teaspoons of yogurt. I struggled for the first time getting my fluids in; I think I had gotten lax about the sip-sip-sip method and maybe was trying to drink too much at once when I drank. It's definitely hard to resist the urge to go back to gulping, especially when the beverage it cold and satisfying, and I feel dry mouth creeping in. Tomorrow is technically my puree day but I skipped ahead just slightly to try to move away from those heavy protein shakes. I realized I'm very sensitive to the texture of my scrambled egg and had to recook it, pre-mixed with about a half tablespoon of skim milk, and instead of the butter he'd initially tried I just used a very light splash of olive oil. That gave me the light, moist scrambled egg I was looking for. I reread my book and while it suggested you might want to start with just egg whites I just couldn't make myself hold to that. I am trying to get better about spacing out the 'not drinking 30 mins before/after' now that I'm beginning to eat some actual food. That's a very hard thing to do, honestly, because I'm noticing that no matter how much I chew without a drink the food just feels kind of stuck in my throat for a bit. I can see now why my friend said she found drinking a broth type soup in the morning 'primed' her stomach for the day. @draikaina8503 & @Pepper_No_Salt - How are you two feeling? I hope that your surgeries went smoothly. @Pepper_No_Salt I'm glad you can mix in some variety with additives to your plant based shakes - I was close enough to losing my mind during the pre-op diet so I think that being limited further would have driven me over the edge! I'm going to look up that PB2 you mentioned because I'm curious about it! (Back to you, @draikaina8503 , just saw your post-op post!) Oh my gosh I hate that your body did that to you RIGHT before your surgery. Mine at least gave me two days I'm very glad they kept you at least another night! I hope they are helping you keep your pain managed. Yeah; it will definitely take some walking to get that gas pain to leave but in the mean time don't be shy in asking for those ice packs and your pain medication! Sometimes managing the pain, then walking with the ice pack is the only way to work it out - at least that was my experience, and I've heard the same from a few others. Thinking back, one thing I wish I'd done while in the hospital was be a BIT more squeaky - I remember now that when my Mom was in the hospital I had to shove a bunch of pillows behind her back when I put the hospital bed up at an incline so she could get a good enough angle in bed to safely sip liquids. I think that would have helped me tremendously, because I relegated myself to using their recliner a lot just so I could be upright, and it didn't work very well AT ALL. Hope you're starting to feel better! (Coming back to you @Pepper_No_Salt since I now see your post-op post!) : Oh my gosh I feel you on the cold drink thing! I was a bit grumpy when I asked the nurse at my 10 day post-op and she casually said, "Oh, room temperature is mainly just the first few days because foods of extreme temperatures CAN cause uncomfortable cramping'. My fella covered his mouth to hide his snort of understanding at the look I gave him, having had to hear me whine off and on for ten days about how I'd give anything for a COLD drink of something. Figuring out the sips is tricky. They gave me little medicine cups that hold about an ounce and for me, sipping one of those 2-3 times felt about right at first. I'm sure this is another one of those things that depends on the person. I also alternated one ounce of gatorade/proper (they had brought me a kiwi watermelon that elicited heartburn, the berry was ok if I went slow - Also weirdly orange gatorade zero goes down better than watermelon, guess its all based on the acid and flavoring? @draikaina8503 - I read where you discussed being pretty limited on the shakes due to dietary restrictions. That's rough It's very cool that you write the same genres as me - I, too, have given Nanowrimo a try but never seem to stick with it to the finish line. Maybe I'll try it again this year! I'm glad you mentioned it. Yes - I meant to follow up all week long on making sure I was on the waiting list, and lo and behold... it's Sunday, and I never did. I'm bad on a good day at executive function, so during stressful times like this recovery - whew. I need to add it as a task to my Finch app so my mind stops blanking on it. I hope they were able to do your full surgery with no complications. @Singingbarista - I hope your recovery is going well! I didn't feel too terribly at first but I am suspecting more and more based off of people's feedback that I almost certainly had a nerve block that took a good 4-5 days to completely wear off. The achiness has built over time, and I hope that is different for you! @AndreaJD - Yay! Another writer & Nanowrimo participant! I guess it isn't too surprising that several of us writing folks would find one another on a forum, but I still think it's really cool. Superhero fan fiction sounds fun; I'd say that some of the powers my characters have are very overlapping, like magic use. It would be awesome if you could get some productive writing done during recovery but I also wanted to encourage you not to be too hard on yourself if you can't. My mind feels muddy and I feel drowsy far more often than I would like. I know I'll probably feel SO much better in about a week, but it's sure hard not to be impatient. I also wanted to mention that I didn't have much trouble at all getting my fluids down at first, either, and that's definitely not a bad thing. My nurse told me there will be good days and harder days, and yesterday I definitely experienced that. It was the first day I didn't make my fluid goal, like I wrote above - and I tried to push it in the evening but that was a bad idea. The Berry Propel I drank a bit too quickly before laying down (should have waited longer, d'oh!) ended up giving me heartburn that woke me up around 3am. It's all trial and error, I guess. Dang - wish I'd thought of having tomato soup pre-op! No idea why I didn't - now it'll probably be a while before I dare due to potential acid reflux. Ahh well! I'm going to try some of that blended Progresso Chicken Noodle in my puree stage I think if it passes the 'book check' - it sounds amazing. @Averdra & @caseyash30 - Are you two still surgery twins on the 21st? I'm trying to backtrack and I know that you said there were possible concerns do to a potential Covid case, @Averdra. I hope that's smoothed out for you! I realized while I was doing my recap that I never mentioned - traveling to Lithuania sounds so exotic to me, as a resident of the Midwestern U!. The furthest I've ever been is Alberta, Canada! Not that you would get to go sightseeing or anything; I get it. I know a lot of folks from the US travel to Mexico for their surgeries. Very cool that you were another WoW OG! The game sure has changed a lot, hasn't it? @caseyash30 - How goes the pre-op diet? Are you getting nervous or eager as the date approaches? For me it all just felt really surreal. @Onemealplan & @Greekmom4 - Tomorrow is my 14 day post op! I was paying close attention to your discussions about puree - because to be honest, I'm kind of stumped on this particular stage. I just managed about half a scrambled egg and a couple of teaspoons of my sugar free Chobani and I just feel so full. The whole time I was eyeballing my sugar free gatorade, thinking how ready I was to just be through with food so I could set a timer to be able to start hydrating. As it is, I have hiccups from the two tiny sips of Gatorade I allowed myself just to make the egg not feel stuck in my throat. I know everyone's experiences are going to vary significantly; the friend I have who had surgery previously said she had a lot of luck sipping the French onion soup mixed, especially in the mornings. She's two years post op and doesn't seem to have trouble eating small servings of most anything she wants now, minus much fried foods or rich desserts. She had a full gastric bypass, for reference. She told me that ricotta was a big win for her because it could be blended and made either savory or sweet, depending on if you chose vegetables or fruit, and also said she really enjoyed refried beans through the puree with mild seasoning to make it more like a taco. I have a gastric sleeve cookbook that offers a lot of different smoothie varieties. Other than that - I'm just not sure what sounds appealing as a puree, despite the nurse saying 'you can puree almost anything but stringy / dense meat!' I can see how the chicken or tuna salad would work - tuna just scares me for some reason. I wonder if I'd be able to do a salmon salad instead of tuna salad. Also - @Onemealplan - Yeah, I tried having my fella puree me some canned kidney beans on Friday, just to test the waters, and they didn't settle well for me. I can't say they are what caused me to have trouble passing gas and extra trouble with my constipation - it seems unlikely since I skimmed away the 'shell' and only ate probably a teaspoon and a half worth, but I just don't know. It tasted great to me, but just made me nervous. This is probably in part because I've dealt with IBS and beans of that sort along with ground beef or tomato sauce with too much basil were trigger type foods for me. I concur on the puree'd meats sound distinctly unappetizing. I'm hoping I can get away with mashing cooked salmon or something like that. Wooo! I did it! I hope I didn't miss anyone - I feel caught up finally! Now, to go rest with my ice pack.

After an unfortunate experience with banana yogurt (I put some skim milk in it and put it in the bullet blender), I have had some nice successes with my full liquid stage, which lasts 2 weeks. The berry Oikos Pro yogurt thinned with skim milk is great, Jello pudding is really good, Progresso Tomato soups are amazing, and Progresso chicken noodle soup blended smooth is probably the best thing I've had since surgery. I put protein powder in everything - still working to get the amount of protein powder right. Took a Tylenol, and that's the only pain med today. My guts feel kind of "loose", if you know what I mean - like they're jostling around in there, but it's not bad. Those who have yet to have your surgery, hope it goes as well for you, too!

Yep, when I originally had the sleeve, I still had to prioritize protein.

Bariatric fusion.com has quite a few recipes that look like they may actually be good when we get back to normal foods. And lots of protein shake and purée recipes too. Just FYI

I’m 5 years out. I take a docusate at bedtime twice a week. Just enough to keep things regular with my high protein diet.

Yea. I just double checked my post op paperwork and from day 3 I had a protein goal of 60-80g. I did have a different surgery but I’m pretty sure it was quite similar for the sleeve as well. I could see if you had to choose between hydration and protein and your struggling to meet your fluid goal but the clear protein drinks should satisfy both. You may consider giving them a call to double check.

That's really strange because the focus should be on protein right from the beginning. I was drinking protein gatorade zero, protein water, ready made protein shakes (not thick, very watery), bone broth, and flavored electrolyte water (Propel has been my favorite).

Thank you!😊 I happen to stumble across it yesterday. Looks good but I might be mashing my protein. I don’t think I can handle the puréed. lol 😂

for some of us, both sleeve and bypass, constipation becomes a chronic "feature". It's been nine years for me so I can't remember when I stopped the (post-surgery) stool softeners, but shortly after I stopped I realized I was having frequent problems "going", so I've been taking a capful of Miralax every morning to stay on top of it. I don't back up very often, but when I do, like sleeve2bypass, I usually have to take something stronger. But from what I read and hear, many or us do take Miralax (or magnesium tablets) daily to try to prevent backups. (btw - the chronic constipation many of us deal with is probably due to the diet (high protein/low carb) and a couple of the supplements we take (calcium and iron are both known to cause constipation in some people).

It was between the SADI and Bypass. I wanted the SADI but if not the Bypass. They did the SADI but that’s not an option when you fill in the stats so I just selected DS since that’s the closest.

Ooh yes yes we have them here! I'll ask my nurse x but she actually told me focus isn't on protein now.

No not shakes. Clear protein drinks. They are like water consistency so you should be allowed to have them at this stage. Check first of course but if you’re allowed they sell them just about everywhere now. I get protein 2.0 at Walmart. Just search clear protein water or drink.

Thanks. I had my one week post op today and the pathology came back and I did in fact have gall stones. My surgeon did not discuss the channel length with me. Nor did he give me the option to resize my sleeve. He believes that the risks are too great for the difference it would make for me but he did also do several tests to get a good picture of my sleeve before we landed on the SADI as opposed to the bypass. Perhaps if my sleeve was larger he would have steered me towards the bypass. My surgery was robotic this time my sleeve was just laparoscopic I’m curious now what my channel length is. Not that I really know what would better one way or another. So it turns out that my pain was almost entirely from gas because I was in a great deal of it until the morning of day when I finally passed a lot of gas and with each time I felt more and more relief. I did walk quite a bit but in retrospect I would’ve walked even more if I had known how much better that toot was going to make me feel. I walked everytime I got up anyways, like to pee brush my teeth or when they woke me up in the middle of the night even. I finally pressed the issue that they switch out my IV pole machine thing. Mine had a very weak battery and even being unhooked that short time while I walked it depleted it so much that it set off alarms they had to come shut off. It was super annoying for them as well and I felt like they were acting annoyed with me as if it was my fault for calling them rather than just accepting that beeping going on all day and night. I am a super light sleeper and it went off other times too so I finally said don’t you have other patients that don’t have to unhook it so many times a day that you could switch with mine. They did and we were all happier for it. Anyways, grab that iv pile and walk walk walk. It doesn’t matter how fast you go, just that you do it. And if you have to toot or belch do not hold it in no matter what. I don’t care who is on the room. Get it out and explain later. Although the doctors and nurses should understand anyways. That was really tough for me but after the relief the first one brought I didn’t care anymore. 😆 I forget. Do you have your date Yet??

I am really hoping that my husband and I can go on a vacation. Any vacation honestly. It has been so many years since we have had one. Between my insecurities and anxieties about my weight and the physical limitations we just haven’t found anything that seems exciting enough both of us to justify the expense. We could really use some“us” time and my husband would never admit but he would benefit from some time off. I think I may suggest to him that we go somewhere to celebrate when I hit my goal. Then we have a while to work out the details. I always wanted to go to Alaska but I think that’s mostly because I knew that it wouldn’t be too hot for me like so many other common vacation spots. I really hope that my heat tolerance goes up a bit and I can expand my options to different places. I am still only a week out so I have time to add to my list. I’m sure as my mental health improves jt will be easier for me to imagine some of these things for myself.

I just noticed that you are talking about a revision. With the revision there really are more than just the main options. They will most likely do a few tests beforehand to get the best picture of what’s going on inside. I had a endoscopy, a barium swallow study and. A gastric emptying study.done before we decided for certain that the SADI was right for me. Some doctors will convert a bypass to Sadi I believe but they can also do something to revise only the pouch. I forget what they call that. Honestly when I comes to revision I know this isn’t exactly true but it almost seems like they make it up as they go 😆 they really do get a good look at your very unique circumstances and take all the knowledge they have from all the procedures they can do and come up with a plan that will work best for you. The names for the surgery get really difficult at that point because really what they actually do from one revision to the next is going to vary depending on the patient and the surgeon. Some surgeons for instance would’ve made my pouch smaller during the revision. Mine doesn’t think it’s worth it given the risks it brings. I would really recommend that you get started with a surgeon and see what options they even offer you and if you don’t love them maybe even get a second opinion because not all surgeons will approach it the same way and some don’t perform all of the procedures there are to offer either.

Try using a lactose free brand and see if that helps. I thought about trying a oat or nut variety but personally decided against those due to recent research on finding higher dosages of toxic metals and they have less protein: "There are 32.7g of protein in 1kg of whole cow's milk, according to the USDA. The density of milk is roughly 1.03g per cm³. So there are 33.7g of protein in 1l of whole cow's milk. There are 8g of protein in 1kg of oat milk, according to the USDA. Using the same density, this equates to 8.24g of protein in 1l of oat milk." Also, I was looking for something more "carbon friendly" but through research found: "Producing 33.7g of protein from whole cow's milk releases 3.15kg of carbon dioxide, according to the University of Oxford. Therefore, 10g of protein releases 0.9kg of carbon dioxide. Producing 8.43g of protein from oat milk releases 0.9kg of carbon dioxide. Therefore, 10g of protein releases 1.1kg of carbon dioxide. So, I went lactose free to get more protein for a bit to see if it fixed my sudden lactose intolerance. It did, but I also found after awhile my intolerance was absent - for which I am thankful since it does cost more! Do what and why works for you. 😁

Well, I got the phone call. I arrive at the hospital at 5:30 tomorrow morning. It feels surreal. My plan for more protein today is going better, but it's still a rough time. But by this time tomorrow, it will have all been worth it. @Onemealplan Owyn protein shakes are actually part of my regimen (not currently because clear liquids). I've been drinking them for a couple of months now. I do like them, just wish there was more variety in flavors. I do wish I could handle the Premier protein as they have a lot of flavors to vary my diet with. ETA: @Pepper_No_Salt I hope you're doing well! Sounds like we are still surgery twins, based on what you said about the pre-op diet. ❤️

The SADI is a modified version of the DS where when they bypass a portion of the bowels they only need “Single Anastmosis,” which means connection and is the first two letters of the acronym SADI, instead of two anastomosis that the DS uses. They are both almost a combination or the sleeve and bypass to simplify it. They combine the sleeved stomach for restriction with the bypassed intestine for malabsorption. In terms of least to most aggressive it’s sleeve, bypass, SADI, then DS. The SADI is fairly new and is considered to be a relatively safe option with that single connection lessening the risk for leaks by at least half and overall risks are less than the DS considering the weight loss is not a lot less. Like the DS it can be done in one surgery or in two steps beginning with a sleeve first and then completing the bypass portion In a second operation later (often after a patient loses enough weight to make the bypass portion safe or as in my case if they do not lose adequate weight or experience regain after the sleeve). You may also see the SADI referred to as the modified switch or SIPS surgery. And the -S in SADI-S just means with sleeve as in when the two components are done at the same time in one operation.

Hi! Sorry to drop in the conversation but I heard Owin protein shakes are pretty good. Maybe try one of those.

Gonna attempt what @Hiddenroses has taught me about tagging and see if I can make it work lol. @AndreaJD Hey, I write the fanfics too when I have time. Mostly Star Wars and LotR fanfic, but I have been thinking about a fanfic involving Bucky and Sam for a while. (Not a ship fic, just a fun writing experience.) People make fanfic out to be a terrible thing, but honestly it's what got most of us started in writing. As for your question about the surgery not working, I can't speak from that experience YET. (soon, so soon) But I think it is health to remember that everyone is different and everyone will have a different experience. @ShoppGirl Thank you for the recipe! I'm going to see what I have available at the grocery store for dairy alternatives. I would prefer not to kill myself immediately after surgery lol! I do agree with AndreaJD that it does sound amazing though, so hopefully I can find something that works for me. I struggled yesterday and did not meet my protein goals on the clear liquid diet. But I survived it and now I'm on to day 2. I have a better plan in mind for meeting my goals today, so hopefully it works out for me. I have to work 2 of my 3 jobs today, and one of them is a grocery store. Pray for me, y'all! lol

Sometimes you don’t have any symptoms for you to discover you have gall stones which may be why you had your gall removed unexpectedly - they only found the problem during your surgery. I found out I had a gallstone 9 months post sleeve. No symptoms then at 25 months post sleeve I had my first attack (the pain is horrendous!) and my surgeon removed my gall. The gall regulates the stomach acid entering your tummy. It can take a little while for the body to compensate for it not being there and the extra acid can cause some smelly diarrhoea. My surgeon said to let him know if it continued for more than a month. It didn’t though every now & again I might have an attack of this sort of diarrhoea (my sister-in-law does too but my aunt doesn’t). Some people struggle with fatty food after gall surgery. This is a more common malabsorption issue. Me, I got the more rare protein malabsorption. Also have issues absorbing some meds (notably my HRT). I think I have the fat one as well & is why my cholesterol has been slowly increasing - waah! Out of curiosity, why couldn’t you have the latte? I wasn’t told I couldn’t have anything after my surgery.

Welcome & congratulations on your decision to have sleeve surgery. Can’t help with your denture question. After surgery , many of us experience a temporary change to our tastebuds & sense of smell meaning that some foods (including shakes & drinks) taste &/or smell awful. For me things became too sweet & some textures became off putting (like the shakes were too grainy for me after surgery). It can persist for a couple of months. Moral is have a couple of samples of different brands & flavours on hand. Also some develop a temporary sensitivity to lactose so you may have to find a plant based protein shake. I started driving short distances during the second week. But your surgeon will advise what they recommend for you.. I didn’t return to work until week 5 (I struggled with low blood pressure & energy & had a shorter concentration span for a little while) but I know people who were back at work after a week. A friend took 3 weeks. It really depends on how you recover. Generally I felt okay for basic chores around the house & short trips to the shops in the second week. Pain was gone by day 4 except for a little general discomfort if I did a little too much or moved too quickly. I lived alone and I was fine by myself though I didn’t have any health issues which may have meant I required any assistance. I slept easily on my side & could get up & down easily (just slowly & carefully). Write down your questions or things you may want to confirm from our stories as you think of them so you have them ready to raise with your surgeon. It’s easy to forget somethings.

Yes the pouch reset is a lie. You can’t reset your tummy. It’s working as it should. It doesn’t control you deciding to eat. What you need is to reset your head (thinking). Start reintroducing the behaviours you followed when you were nearing your stabilised weight. You can start by introducing just one or two changes every week or two (small changes are easier to accept, adopt & adapt to). For example: start by tracking your food to see what you’re actually eating (nutrients, calories), how much you’re eating ( portion size) and how often. Then ensure your meeting your protein & fluid goals. Then introduce reviewing portion sizes. Then maybe drop a snack or two. If you’ve let your activity slide start reintroducing something even walking at first. You’re on your way because you want to get back on track. May be see a therapist to discuss how you can avoid reverting back to your pre surgery eating behaviours again - can’t hurt. All the best.

On the one hand, the farther out from surgery you get, the more you can physically eat. This is normal at a year post-op, and may have coincided with the timing of your poor food choices. But if you have been going "off track" by eating a bunch of slider foods, that will in part explain why you don't feel any restriction. The more you focus on eating lean protein and high-fiber veggies, the more full you will likely feel. Your tool never goes away, but your nutrition becomes even more important the more your body can eat. My suggestion is to skip the "pouch reset" where you go through the stages of food. There's nothing magical about eating puree and drinking shakes. You were supposed to do that because your stomach had just been slice open and stapled up. What you should do is go back to a bariatric diet. This means eating protein first, veggies second, carbs third. It means portion control, eating at planned intervals, avoiding sugar and fat. It means waiting 30 minutes after you eat before you drink (not because you can't physically drink, but because doing so can contribute to hunger), and making sure you get a minimum of 64oz of water every day (but 90 oz is probably better). Instead of revisiting the first few weeks after surgery, meet your body where it is now. Plan three high protein, healthy meals for yourself each day. For breakfast, you might try making two eggs, a serving of spinach, and some roasted sweet potato. For lunch, you could try a salad with 4 oz of chicken and some black beans, plus lots of veggies. For dinner, make yourself 4 oz of salmon, a serving of broccoli, and a serving of quinoa. Space your meals evenly throughout the day, around 5 hours apart. See if that amount of food fills you up. If it does, you're pretty much where you probably should be at this stage. If it doesn't, add more veg to your plate at meal times, and allow yourself up to two healthy snacks, such some fresh raw veggies and a ranch dip made from Greek yogurt, and maybe a bowl of fresh berries with Coolwhip and nuts for dessert. My guess is, if you focus on eating the right things and not eating simple carbs and high fat comfort foods, you will start feeling much better.

There's no actual pouch reset, you're correct about that. It's more getting your mind right again. You have to get back to basics, not to retrain your pouch but to retrain yourself how to eat (and not eat) again. A week of stage 1, a week of stage 2, etc is a great way to start over. It's gonna be really rough, not gonna lie, but start tracking everything that goes into your mouth. Everything you eat and drink. how much, how often. Start tracking your calories, carbs, fats, and proteins. Prioritize protein first, then veggies, then healthy fats. Follow the eating and drinking rules. Reach back out to your surgeon's office and your nutritionist, if you can. You still have your tool, you just have to hold yourself accountable and start using it properly again.